Good Thursday morning.
Today is another of those moments when you realize all the major religions of the world are deeply interconnected.
It’s Ashura, (starting this evening and running through tomorrow, which for Sunni Muslims, marks the day God delivered the Israelites, led by the Prophet Musa (AKA Moses), from slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh.
God did this, the belief goes, by parting the Red Sea, allowing the fleeing Israelites to cross safely to the other side, but then closing the waters over the heads of their pursuing enemies, condemning them to a watery death.
As a Jew, this all sounds very familiar. It’s part of the Exodus story that we re-tell every Passover at the Seder table.
For Shia Muslims, this day is also important, but for a different reason. It’s commemorated as a day of mourning, because it marks the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Husayn ibn Ali, who was killed (beheaded, actually) during the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE.
Here’s where things get complicated – and even outright controversial – because Husayn ibn Ali’s death was what helped create the schism between Sunnis and Shiites – the two main Muslim religious movements.
Sunnis also regard Husayn’s (I’ve also seen him called Imam Hussein) death as an incredible loss, but open displays of mourning to mark his passing are either discouraged or outright prohibited.
But for the Shia, Ashura observances call for very public displays of mass mourning (and also multiple days of fasting) that might include group processions, pilgrimages, weeping, and (in extreme cases) self-flagellation.
According to some of what I found online, those who choose to fast in observance (it’s not a requirement, unlike during Ramadan, for example), believe that if they do so, God will forgive their sins committed over the previous year. (This also sounds familiar from a Jewish perspective – a lot like Yom Kippur).
Due to deep political and religious divides in some Middle Eastern countries. In Iraq, for example, Ashura has, in the past, been marked by sectarian violence, as Shiite pilgrims were attacked during their observance by Sunni militants, who considered their targets heretics.
Afghanistan has also seen violence during Ashura, again directed at the Shia, who are in the minority. Ditto, Pakistan, which a bomb exploded during a Shia procession, killing at least three people and wounding many others.
Here’s hoping that things are peaceful today.
Back to more mundane concerns – the weather. It’s going to be in the mid-to-high 80s today, with the chance of some very strong thunderstorms. And then it’s going to get hot. Very hot. But that’s tomorrow, so let’s worry about that tomorrow.
In the headlines…
With millions of Americans facing broiling heat across the Southwest, President Joe Biden today plans to announce new steps to improve weather forecasts and make drinking water more accessible, according to the White House.
Biden announced his intent to nominate former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley as commissioner of the Social Security Administration, the White House said in a statement.
If confirmed, O’Malley would run one of the biggest social programs in the nation and grapple with the surrounding uncertainty over its funding. Roughly 70 million people — including retirees, disabled people and children — receive Social Security benefits.
Biden reportedly has ordered the U.S. government to start sharing information about possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court.
House Republicans are caught between two forces when it comes to impeaching Biden: conservative eagerness to target the president and the protection of their members in pro-Biden districts.
Donald Trump wants to see Biden impeached, and the former president’s allies in Congress and his 2024 GOP presidential rivals are eager to join that fight as his own legal challenges mount.
Rudy Giuliani has conceded that while acting as a lawyer for Trump, he made false statements by asserting that two Georgia election workers had mishandled ballots while counting votes in Atlanta during the 2020 election.
Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s proposed deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to tax charges and avoid a gun charge hit a snag yesterday when the judge in the case said she needed more time to review their agreement.
The judge overseeing Hunter Biden’s criminal case accused a member of his legal team of misrepresenting themselves to the clerk’s office, an unusual development that has raised the possibility of sanctions.
The outcome leaves in jeopardy the yearslong investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings. He pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges after the plea deal he struck with the government unraveled.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared suddenly unable to speak during a press conference yesterday, and was briefly led away by concerned GOP colleagues after he was unable to complete his opening remarks.
McConnell, 81, reportedly tripped and fell while disembarking from a plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport this month, and had recently been using a wheelchair as a precaution when he navigates crowded airports.
McConnell’s sudden freeze jolted the Senate Republican Conference, eliciting hopes from allies, detractors that he will fully recover from any health issues.
McConnell told reporters that Biden had called to check on him after the incident, and the senator joked that he had been “sandbagged”. He also insisted repeatedly, “I’m fine.”
Hochul visited Splash Indoor Water Park in Oswego yesterday to make an economic development announcement as part of a swing through Central New York.
As migrants arriving in New York City continue to be transported elsewhere in the state, lawmakers are introducing several pieces of legislation they hope will improve communication between localities if asylum seekers need to be relocated.
Two New York House lawmakers – GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik and Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins – called for expanded staffing and resources at the U.S.-Canadian border in a bipartisan push to address the issue.
Cattaraugus County lawmakers were unanimous yesterday in their support for state Senate and Assembly bills urging Hochul to continue a Nation-State Gaming Compact with the Seneca Nation of Indians.
AG Letitia James is trying to keep the anti-abortion group Red Rose Rescue from coming within 30 feet of reproductive health clinics in the state, saying members have repeatedly sought to prevent patient access to abortions in New York and across the nation.
The NYSDEC currently maintains 53 air quality sensors throughout New York, but Hochul avoided committing to any additional sensors while acknowledging that smoky, sometimes dangerous air is likely to become more common in the future.
The commission charged with proposing new high school graduation requirements is holding a marathon meeting this week to finish its recommendations.
The state Senate released an investigative report containing the findings of its five-month probe into the Orange County IDA’s practices for granting tax breaks, accompanied by a criminal referral from Sen. James Skoufis to the Orange County DA.
The city will open a new relief center for asylum-seekers on the campus of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, Mayor Eric Adams announced.
Fifty-four Democratic lawmakers from across New York City signed a letter demanding President Biden provide immediate assistance with the migrant crisis gripping their metropolis.
Over 100 migrants in the New York City shelter system have received notices requiring them to reapply for shelter under a program that limits stays to 60 days for single men, city officials said.
“The people initially that we’re giving the notices to are the people that have been in our system for the longest,” said Dr. Ted Long, the senior vice president at New York City Health and Hospitals. “We’re delivering the notices on a rolling basis.”
Surrounded by some of the top women officials in his administration, Adams announced that he’s appointing Lisa Zornberg, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan and a white collar defense attorney, as the city’s next chief counsel.
Zornberg, who oversaw high-profile and complex cases, is arriving as Adams develops policies to address several crises.
Adams’ often-positive relationship with New York’s tech community has soured in some ways.
Adams is reportedly extending an olive branch to the NYC Council by deploying top loyalist and senior advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin to set up “peace meetings” following a housing veto override that embarrassed City Hall.
Commercial vehicle drivers looking to park on one Manhattan avenue better have their phones charged — New York City is testing an app-only payment program on a stretch of Sixth Ave. in Chelsea.
The MTA announced that customers have tapped into the system using the OMNY fare payment system more than 1 billion times.
In a dramatic scene, a construction crane atop a high-rise building in Midtown Manhattan burst into flames and partially collapsed onto the street yesterday morning, injuring 11 people, officials said.
The operator of the crane at the center of the disaster in Midtown was previously charged in a 2008 construction accident that resulted in the death of his co-worker.
The fire on a construction crane that partially collapsed in Manhattan may have been caused by a hydraulic fluid leak in the machine’s engine compartment.
Two supervisors at a juvenile detention center operated by New York City’s child welfare agency were charged by federal prosecutors with assaulting a 16-year-old resident who was awaiting trial and with then trying to cover up the attack.
Just over 100 New York City public school students listed their gender as “X” instead of “male” or “female,” after the nation’s largest school district provided the new option for non-binary pupils last fall.
A Long Island restaurateur who was a key witness in a public corruption investigation was sentenced to four years in prison, ending an episode that led to allegations of endemic wrongdoing across New York City and one of its most populous suburban areas.
Ashley Miller is leaving WNYT News after a decade at NewsChannel13. She has accepted a job with North Colonie schools, her alma mater.
Fast-rising water from heavy rain trapped 16 people Tuesday in popular swimming holes in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.
State Police said that they arrested a 16-year-old for speeding with nine juvenile passengers in the vehicle, four of whom were under the age of 16.
Bombers Burrito Bar, one of the Capital Region’s most familiar restaurant brands, has closed after a run of nearly 26 years, a victim of changing customer habits and an inability to recover from the pandemic, its owner said.
The City Council will continue its investigation of building problems at the Harbour Point Gardens apartment complex at 182 Delaware Ave. in South Troy by issuing subpoenas to compel testimony by the site’s owners and their employees.
Catering and hospitality company Mazzone Hospitality has appointed a new leadership team, effective immediately.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo, a Gloversville native, never thought there would be a third novel set in the working-class upstate New York town of North Bath. He was wrong.
A self-described anti-racism group has filed a federal civil-rights complaint against SUNY Buffalo’s School of Medicine for running a science prep program that gives preference to “historically underrepresented” students over whites and Asians.
The former thoroughbred trainer Jason Servis was sentenced to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to participating in what prosecutors called a far-reaching doping scheme meant to improve the performance of his horses.
Kevin Spacey, the two-time Oscar-winning actor known for his movie and TV roles including “House of Cards,” was found not guilty by a jury in Britain of nine counts of sexual assault.
Sinead O’Connor, the outspoken Irish singer-songwriter known for her powerful, evocative voice, as showcased on her biggest hit, a breathtaking rendition of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and for her political provocations onstage and off, has died. She was 56.
